


On a Clear Day

by Grammarwoman



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-14
Updated: 2012-07-14
Packaged: 2017-11-09 22:28:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/459186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grammarwoman/pseuds/Grammarwoman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a clear day, Clint Barton can see what's right in front of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On a Clear Day

**Author's Note:**

> A few weeks ago, [such-heights](http://such-heights.dreamwidth.org/) hosted an [Avengers kissing fest](http://such-heights.dreamwidth.org/390500.html) , and I [got inspired](http://such-heights.dreamwidth.org/390500.html?thread=7193188#cmt7193188) by the prompt "Clint/any: wide open sky". I've read and loved just about every grouping of the Avengers and extended Marvel movie universe characters, but Clint/Darcy really hit my sweet spot with snarky banter and hotness.

SHIELD is happy when Tony announces that the newly-rechristened Avengers tower is open for business and he bullies the whole team (and then some) into moving in - at least, as happy as any classified organization of spies, assassins, and bureaucratic heavies can get. (Clint is convinced that the agents take Botox with their daily multivitamins so the expressions on their faces never curl up into a grin. Frowns and scowls, on the other hand, they have down cold.)

Clint, though, is less than thrilled to move into quarters where the exits are limited by windows sealed against a drop of hundreds of feet. He shakes off Tony’s charm and tries to say no to the offer, but Natasha lifts a deadpan eyebrow at him, and suddenly all his crap is in a new apartment. Granted, it’s much bigger than anything he’s had in civilian life, and he sees Pepper’s subtle hand in the furnishings that somehow fit with his style, but he reserves the right to be an asshole about it while he gets used to his new digs.

He spends a week prowling around, looking for dead spots in the security and potential cache sites for his weapons. He suspects Tony has had a word with his pet AI JARVIS, because cameras politely whir and point away as he scrambles through air ducts and ceiling supports, and he doesn’t get shot or sliced up with lasers or whatever other measures Tony has had installed.

It takes some wiggling, but finally he finds a way up to a small flat spot near the top of the building, out of sight of Tony’s landing pad and basically inaccessible to anyone not airborne or taller than him. His sense of accomplishment dims when he finds a subtle design scratched in the shape of an hourglass: of course Natasha has beaten him there. She’s left off any further signs that would indicate that she’s claimed the spot, or that he’d be in immediate danger to linger there, so he shrugs and enjoys the wide open sky for a while.

It becomes his spot to retreat to when the crowd gets to him. Thor, back from Asgard, is pleased to be reunited with Jane. Jane, judging from her vocalizations that somehow penetrate the soundproofed walls, is even happier. Tony and Pepper appear to have invited Bruce into their bedroom. Natasha is looking smug and Steve is blushing. Feeling like the odd wheel of the group, Clint grits his teeth and goes through a lot of lube by himself.

Then Jane’s friend Darcy moves in, grumbling about jack-booted thugs and security details. She’s cute - OK, she’s hot, and stacked, and the kind of snarky that really gets him going. He can tell she doesn’t mind the view when her eyes linger on his biceps and his ass. But she’s busy getting trained as a new SHIELD hire, and he is trying his hardest to keep up with the team as they’re sent out again and again to defend New York and the wider East Coast area from a never-ending supply of super-powered megalomaniacs.

He’s looking forward to some quiet time up on the roof and somehow manages to miss the telltale marks of an enthusiastic beginning explorer, so he’s surprised and a little bit pissed off when he opens the hatch to find Darcy sprawled on the cushion he’d dragged up there. She squeaks and flails at him.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Barton, don’t you knock?” Her impressive chest is rising and falling as she tries to catch her startled breath. “Seriously, go be ninja-stealthy somewhere else.”

“This is my somewhere else,” he says, glad his sunglasses hide where his gaze has landed. “Who do you think furnished the place?”

A smile quirks at her lips. “What, no beer fridge, novelty lights, or patio umbrella to enhance the ambiance?”

“An umbrella would be a little difficult to get up here. Not to mention that it would block the view.” He points upward to the clear blue sky.

Her eyes follow the motion, and she sighs. “I bet you can’t see anything at night, though, with all this light pollution. Damn, I miss New Mexico sometimes.”

“Me, too,” he agrees. Granted, it had been a land of wide open flatness, but with the right equipment, he could still get a good high vantage point, and the night skies had been incredible.

“Right, you were involved in the Thor shitshow.” She nods. “I might not have minded SHIELD stealing all of our crap if you’d been one of the lackeys.” She thinks it over. “Nah, I probably would have wanted to taze your ass, too. I still haven’t gotten my iPod back.”

He bows slightly. “My ass appreciates the lack of high voltage.”

“Are you kidding? Your ass is high voltage.” Darcy claps a hand over her mouth. “Fuck. I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

Clint chuckles. “You did, thanks. May I offer the same appreciation for your -” He tries to think of a way to finish his statement that won’t get him slapped, and fails.

“My rack is pretty great, yeah.” She grins down at herself and back up at him. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

He refrains from pointing out that it’s his seat to offer and lowers himself down. They sit in companionable silence for a while.

“Thanks,” she says out of nowhere.

“For what?”

“For not being party to the frantic coupling and tripling going on downstairs. It’s like some really bad 90s sexy sitcom. I‘d feel totes awkward about being the lonely singleton in that group.” She looks over sideways at him. “Unless Jane has missed telling me something?”

“No, trust me, it was beyond awkward.” Clint bumps her shoulder with his. “And right back atcha.”

“You know,” Darcy says thoughtfully, “it’s not that I’m against coupling, per se.”

“Really.” His nonchalance is spoiled by the smile he can’t hide.

She bumps him back. “And you?”

“I’ve got no problems with you not being against coupling.” His smile is getting wider.

“Jerk!” Her shove almost knocks him over before he grabs and flips her so she’s underneath him. She shrieks, but she’s grinning up at him when he’s done. “Now who’s blocking the view?”

“I was kind of hoping you’d be closing your eyes, anyway,” he says, and leans in slowly. She meets him halfway in a kiss, and sure enough, her eyes slip closed. His do, too; it’s a damned nice kiss. The next one is even better, and the one after that, and the one after that.


End file.
